Mikelangelo & Anushka: Cabaret-with-a-capital-C

February 17, 2018

Back in November, at the launch of Summer Program, The Butterfly’s Club director Simone raved about cabaret royalty brother and sister Mikelangelo & Anushka. Not one to let an insider tip like this unheeded, I brought a plus one along with a giddy sense of excitement and curiosity to the premiere of Mikelangelo & Anusha: Siblings. The packed audience was another hint that the artists had a cult following that I was late to get into.

Mikelangelo and Anushka have distinct styles when composing the songs that they alternate performing, except for a very last duet, but share a symbiotic relationship of artists that have toured together since the 90s, and though their journeys from childhood to adulthood that we listen to in song and anectodes.

Mikelangelo, silver-haired and dapper, with a David-Lynch like quiff has a divine potent bass voice not unlike in timbre and style as that of Leonard Cohen and Nick Cave. Anusha’s equally remarkable alto is an easy fit with more lyrical and whimsical fairy-tale like lyrics. This is not cabaret that stands out for originality or edginess. There is nothing in the music or the style that makes them stand out from what you’d expect from cabaret. But taken as a whole, the combinations is outstanding. Exquisite singing, the whimsical delightful lyrics, memorable melodies accompanied by the ethereal piano and accordion (musician Dave Evans) and their playful and easy relationship on stage.

This is Cabaret-with-a-capital-C. Mikelangelo and Anushka immediately makes it to my personal and select pantheon of artists that I will follow and buy tickets to see whatever and whenever they perform again. Bravo.

– Christian G.Christian is an international man of mystery; lover of books, cats, and the performing arts; moonlighting as a finance professional by day.